It's so good to be back at Park of the Palms. And in conjunction with my quick trip up to deal with the funeral service in Pennsylvania yesterday afternoon, I have a lot of people to thank here at Park of the Palms. First of all, I'd like to thank Liz Gilbert for being willing to drive my wife Tuesday morning clear over to the Tampa airport to fly up so that she could be with her sister who had lost her husband earlier this week. And then I'd like to thank both Liz and Jim Gilbert for driving me to the airport very early yesterday morning. so that I could get up there in time for the funeral service in the Leicester area. And then I'd like to thank the Maltmans for being willing to drive up to the airport again today to pick me up my way back so that I could be here with you this evening. And I owe a special thanks to Jim Harvey for filling in for the three sessions that I had to be aware. And I've heard excellent reports about his ministry to you, and I'm not surprised at that at all. But Jim, thank you so very, very much for filling in and doing an excellent job. And I hear he did a tremendous series on Israel. And that's great. I was really delighted and pleased to hear that. And I just want to thank all of you for your prayers in conjunction with my trip up and the service just the afternoon and my trip back. It was a very emotional experience. in many respects because my brother-in-law I've known for almost thirty-nine years and there's been a close relationship there but he knew the Lord and made an impact on a lot of people hours just to come to one of the viewings. They had three different viewings, and there were people studying long lines, but some traveled long distances to come and to express their sympathy to the family. I'm not aware of any Muslim people who were customers of his that were in the memorial service just the afternoon, but there were a good number of Amish people there, and you may be aware of the fact that the Amish believed that salvation is by works and not by the grace of God. There were quite a few Roman Catholic people there who had had business dealings with my brother-in-law and a lot of other people as well. There probably were four hundred and some people that were there for the memorial service. And God really did a very significant thing. A number of people said they were really touched by the whole service. The man who put the service together, conducted it, did an outstanding job in leading in the hymn singing of praises to God. Interestingly, my brother-in-law's brother who has a beautiful singing voice, sang an excellent, excellent hymn yesterday that was just perfect for the homegoing of his own brother. And then I had the privilege of presenting the gospel very, very clearly to the people who were there and making it clear to them that my brother-in-law accepted Christ when he was sixteen years of age back in October of And that two of his major concerns that I became aware of the years that I knew him were, number one, the eternal destiny of his family and friends, and also had a deep concern that people could have genuine hope when confronted with the reality of death. And so I addressed those two issues with people yesterday and made the way of salvation very, very clear to people. And thank you for your prayers. Believe me, I was struggling up with a platform because I got up to speak. I didn't dare look at my sister-in-law and her children because I knew I would break if they were breaking. But by God's grace, when I got up to speak, God gave me calmness and clarity of thought and everything else. And it was a privilege to be there and present the Word of God. And I've been asked to express to you on their behalf, you're being willing to let me go to go up to take part in that very significant ministry yesterday afternoon. So thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. But it's great to be back here and see all of you again. I'll just briefly describe again some of the books which are available for purchase on the book table, one that's entitled The New Nature. When you trusted Jesus Christ to be your Savior, the Holy Spirit gave you a new nature. But what is our new nature? And what does it do for us in our daily living as Christians? How does it relate to the work of the Holy Spirit inside of Christians? These are the major issues we address totally from the Word of God in this book. And we look at many passages, both in the Old and New Testaments that relate information on this critical subject, but the passage that we examine most in depth is Romans six, seven, and eight, which I'm convinced is the most critical passage in all the Word of God on the Christian life. And so this is really addressing with the heart of a Christian life. And then a book entitled The Eternal Sonship of Christ. By the way, most of this was written by a friend of mine, but he had asked me, heard me make a presentation on the same issue and asked if I would write two of the chapters in this. This was published by Loazzo, and it's giving a biblical defense for the truth that Jesus Christ has always been the Son of God. He did not become the Son of God either at birth or at his baptism or at his resurrection or sometime later, but he's always been the Son of God. And that's a significant issue if you understand the biblical concept of sonship. Because one of the major concepts involved with that biblical sonship is that as a son you have the same nature as your father. And therefore, Son of God. is an inscription of absolute deity to the Lord Jesus. And so if you're going to say he's not always been the Son of God, then to be consistent, you'd have to say he's not always been deity. And if you go that route, you've got some serious problems with regard to the personal nature of Jesus Christ. Elwood McQuaid, who's been the executive director of the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry since back in has written a fascinating book entitled, The Zion Connection. And he probably deals with some of the same issues that Jim, I surmised, dealt with in some of the sessions with you, kind of tracing the history of relationships between Jewish people and Christians, quote unquote, organized Christendom, and showing how tragically, in the name of Jesus Christ, some of the false branches of Christianity hated and persecuted Jews and massacred by the thousands during the Middle Ages and even up in the modern day times. But how a good number of Jewish people today are beginning to waken up to the fact that the best friends that they have, at least here in America, are born-again Christians who believe the Bible is the Word of God and therefore have an understanding of God's plan and purpose for the people and the nation of Israel, that they are to play a key role in the fulfillment of his overall purpose for world history. And so Elwood even deals with some of the new understanding that's coming about now on the part of Jewish people toward bribal-believing Christians. I think you'd find that book very, very interesting. Now, in our study on what the Bible tells us about angels, I'd like to address this evening the subject of the relationships of angels to Jesus Christ, the relationships of angels to Jesus Christ. There's a lot of the Bible about this, but the first significant thing is this. According to the Word of God, Jesus Christ existed before the angels. I'd advise you to turn with me, please, to the book of Colossians, chapter one. Colossians chapter one. The Apostle Paul wrote the book of Colossians against a cult made up of false teachers. And that cult got people involved in the worship of angels. And Paul is driving home the point of Colossians that we are never to worship angels, that only God is to be worshipped. And in developing that, he's also pointing out the superiority of Jesus Christ over the angels. And one of the things he emphasizes here is that Jesus Christ existed before the angels. And therefore, he himself is not an angel. And Paul emphasizes that in two ways. The first way is in chapter one and verse fifteen of Colossians. where he refers to Jesus as the firstborn of every creature, the firstborn of every creature. Now, you need to be aware of the fact that the Jehovah's Witnesses have had a field day with that designation, the firstborn of every creature, and they claim that Paul is thereby saying that Jesus was the first creature. He was the first being that God created. And they say that's the significance of the term firstborn of every creature. And I want to point out to you that Paul did not mean by that designation that Jesus Christ was the first thing created. Let me give you some evidence for concluding that's not what he means. Number one, interestingly in Paul's day in the Greek language, there was an altogether different word that meant first created. And Paul does not use that word here for the Lord Jesus. In fact, he never uses the word which means first created for Christ. And nowhere in the Bible is that word used for Jesus Christ. So that if Paul wanted to teach that Jesus was the first thing created, he would have used that word that meant first created. But in addition, verse sixteen explains what Paul means by the firstborn of every creature. Notice, after saying the firstborn of every creature at the end of verse fifteen, Paul in verse sixteen says, For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, the invisible things in heaven, the visible things here on earth. And then he says, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers, all things were created by Him and for Him. Paul is saying that everything that was ever created was created by Jesus Christ. Well, in order for Jesus to create everything that's ever been created, he had to exist before these things that were created. Otherwise, he could not have created everything. And so it's interesting that the term firstborn has more than one meaning associated with it in the Bible. And in this particular instance, in verses fifteen and sixteen, it carries the meaning of existing before, existing before, a firstborn son for existence, existed before. all the other children and the families. That's one of the concepts tied in with the term firstborn in the Bible, existing before. And so what Paul is saying here is this, the fact that Jesus was the firstborn of all of creation, it is communicating the concept, he existed before all of creation. And therefore he was able to be the creator. that would bring every created thing into existence. But then there's a second way in which Paul communicates the idea that Jesus existed even before the angels. And notice in verse sixteen again, as we've already noted, he talks here about the thrones and dominions and principalities and powers. And we saw the other day, those are designations for angels. And New Testament scholars recognize that consistently. So Paul said there is a firstborn, he existed before the angels. But then look at verse seventeen. The second way he communicates that Christ existed before the angels, he clearly states at verse seventeen, and he is before all things. And the all things goes right back to verse sixteen, for by him were all things created, whether in the heavens or on earth, visible, invisible. In verse seventeen, Paul is saying, Christ existed before all things that were ever created. So one of the significant things about the relationship between angels and Jesus Christ is He existed before the angels because He created them. They are His creatures. And so he had to exist before them in order to bring them into existence. A second thing Paul teaches about the relationship between Jesus Christ and angels is this. Jesus Christ is the sovereign Lord over the angels. He is the sovereign Lord over the angels. And again, the Bible brings this out in a number of different ways. One way again is with that word, firstborn of all creation. The word firstborn not only carried with it the idea of existence before something, but it also carried with it the idea of supremacy over something or sovereignty over something. You know, a firstborn son would eventually become of the ruling authority over the whole family, whatever his father would pass off the scene he would be the ruling authority over the family. And so firstborn carry with it the idea of sovereign rule over or supremacy over. And so again, when Paul says here that Christ is the firstborn of all creation, that's his way of saying that Jesus Christ has supremacy over all of creation, including all of the angels. But there's another way in Colossians. where Paul drives their point home. Colossians chapter two, verse ten. Colossians two, ten, where Paul says, and you are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power. Again, the terms principality and power go right back to verse sixteen, reference to angels. And Paul's saying that Christ is the head, the ruling head over all. of the powerful angels that are in existence. But another way in which the Bible indicates He is sovereign Lord over the angels is the fact that Jesus had complete authority to cast evil angels, demons out of human beings. Just for one example, look please at Luke chapter four and verse forty-one. Luke chapter four and verse forty-one. where Luke says, and devils, it's the word daimon, the Greek word for demons. And demons also came out of many crying out and saying, thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuked them, suffered them not to speak, for they knew that he was Christ. He personally had the authority. over all the evil fallen demonic angels to command them to go wherever he wanted them to go or do with them whatever he wanted to do and interestingly he gave that same authority to his apostles look at Luke chapter nine and verse one Luke chapter nine and verse one then he called his twelve disciples together and giving them power and authority over all devils or over all demons. The word apostle, as you know, means who sent one, but it carries more meaning than just that. An apostle is one who is sent with the same authority as the one who sends him. Originally the term had no spiritual connotation with it whatsoever, It used to be used for ships back in the ancient world that a kingdom would send a ship out as their representative to another nation to carry on trade. And that ship or even a fleet of ships would be called an apostle. And the idea was that they went out with the authority of the kingdom that sent them. And so Jesus here is sending his apostles out. as his spokesman, as his representatives in his place. And he gives them the same authority over demons that he had over demons. Interestingly, he also gave that same authority to the seventy that he sent out two by two. Look at Luke chapter ten. Verse one, after these things, the Lord appointed other seventy also. and sent them two by two, two and two before his face in every city and place, where he himself would come. Now look at verse seventeen. And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us through thy name. So Jesus had complete sovereign authority over the angels. He gave his apostles from the seventy. authority over these evil demonic angels. It was his authority that he had the right to communicate to them, to exercise as his representatives and as his spokesman as they were extending this ministry. Now that's in the past. Interestingly, prophetic scriptures indicate that in the future millennium, Jesus Christ will demonstrate graphically his sovereign rule over the angels, particularly the evil angels. Who's the ultimate demon or fallen angel? Satan. When you read Revelation twenty, verses one through three, in Revelation nine, three in the end, we are the second coming of Christ. And Christ destroys all the political rulers and armies of Satan's domain here upon planet earth. But in Revelation, verses one through three, John sees an angel coming down out of heaven with the key to the abyss, and he chains Satan and casts him into the abyss by command of Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus, who's taking back the rule of the world system on behalf of God the Father, has the altered enemy of God and God's people changed. the ultimate demonic angelic being chained and cast into the abyss. Interestingly, when you go over to Isaiah chapter twenty-four, verses twenty-one through twenty-three, we have an Old Testament reference to the effect that in the future, spirit beings in high realms will also be imprisoned in the pit. for an extended period of time while the Lord rules from Jerusalem here upon planet Earth. Revelation twenty says that Satan will be bound there for one thousand years and apparently all the fallen angels, the fallen free ones that are under his dominion, will also be cast by the authority of Jesus Christ into the bottomless pit of the abyss around the same time that Satan is. and they will be held prisoner in that same pit together with their demonic ruler, Satan, for an extended period of time throughout the entire thousand year millennium, which indicates there will not be one bit of satanic or demonic, fallen angelic activity anywhere in the world throughout the entire last millennium of this present earth's history. Jesus demonstrating He is sovereign Lord. over the angels for the glory and honor of God. But then the third thing we learn, and really we've touched on this already, but now it's a separate category, is that Jesus Christ created the angels. We just looked at Colossians one sixteen a while ago that he created these invisible beings in the heavenly realm, thrones, principalities, powers, dominions, etc. But look again, please, at the Gospel of John chapter one and verse three. John chapter one, verse three. John, it says, referred to Jesus Christ as the word of God. And he says, verse three, all things were made by him. And without him was not anything made that was made. Same truth that Paul was communicating Colossians one, that Jesus Christ is the person of the Godhead who actually did the work of creation. And everything that's ever been created, including the angels, were created by the eternal Son of God, who we call Jesus the Messiah or Jesus Christ. So he's the creator of all the angels. A fourth thing the Bible tells us about his relationship to angels was this. The angels were created for Jesus Christ's benefit. That was the purpose of their creation. They were created for his benefit. Go with me again, please, to Colossians chapter one. Colossians chapter one, where we were just a little while ago. And notice if you would, at the end of verse sixteen, all things were created by him, and notice the next expression, and for him. That's Paul's way of saying, all of creation was created for the benefit of Jesus Christ, including the angels. The whole idea here is that Jesus is the goal or ultimate purpose for which they and all the rest of creation were brought into existence. I take it basically for His honor and for His glory. It was the ultimate purpose for which the angels and all the rest of creation were brought into existence by Him. All things were created not only by Him. but for him, for his benefit. And then the next thing we learned about his relationship to angels is that the angels are sustained by Jesus Christ. They are sustained by Jesus Christ. Look at Colossians one, seventeen. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And again, In light of verse sixteen, the all things here is referring to all of creation, including the angels. Paul is saying that all things of creation are sustained by Jesus Christ. The word translated consist means to continue to endure to exist. The idea is that Jesus Christ is the one who keeps all of creation existing and continuing on. It can be put this way that through Christ, all of creation is held together. Every moment of every day, he's holding all of creation together. He keeps it going. He keeps it functioning. He keeps it existing, including the angels. Think of the implications of that. Let me ask you a question. Who was holding the whole universe together and sustaining it when he was in Mary's womb? He was in the realm of his deity. Who was holding the whole universe, all of creation, together and sustaining it when he was on the cross? He was in the realm of his deity. Who was sustaining and holding the whole universe, all of creation, included the angels together and continued their existence when he was in the tomb? He was in the realm of his divinity. If he had stopped sustaining all of creation for one moment, it would have gone out of existence. Incredible truth here. of what Paul is saying about Jesus Christ. The next thing, they were told about his relationship to angels with Louis. Angels are commanded by God to worship Jesus Christ. They are commanded by God to worship Jesus Christ. Look, please, at the book of Hebrews chapter one and verse six. Hebrews chapter one and verse six. In chapter one, the writer is demonstrating the superiority of Jesus Christ over the angels. And that's what he says. And again, when he, and the heirs referring to God the Father, and again when he brings in the first begotten into the world, when God brought his son Jesus Christ into the world to be born as a human being, he says, and let all the angels of God... worship Him. When God sent His Son into the world, even though He was now going to become a human being through incarnation, God commanded the angels to worship His Son. That again is incredibly significant. The reason I state that is The Bible absolutely forbids anyone or anything except deity to be worshipped. The only deity is to be worshipped. No part of creation is to be worshipped. Mind it's funny that Job's witnesses teach that Jesus was an angel, that he was the first thing created by God. and that He was the greatest angel ever created by God, but no deity. What do you do with the fact that the Bible forbids angels to be worshipped, but that God commands the angels to worship His Son? If God forbids angels to be worshipped, but He commands the angels to worship His Son, you're forced to conclude, therefore, Jesus Christ as the Son of God is not an angel. Because then God would be contradicting one of his commandments. He'd be commanding his son to be worshipped as an angel, and yet he forbids that of it. Scriptures make it very clear no angels will ever be worshipped. I pointed out to you earlier that in Colossians one, Paul warns believers not to get involved with this cult that teaches people to worship angels or gets involved in angel worship. Look if you would please at Revelation twenty-two in verse nine. Revelation twenty-two in verse nine. Every situation involving The Apostle John, and just to get the context, will begin with verse eight. John says, And I, John, saw these things and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel, which showed me these things. Then, for if he and the Mary, see thou do it not, literally, don't do that. In essence, the angel said to John, For I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brother and the prophets, and of them which keep the seedings of this book. Worship God. John has this angel appeared to him. It's obviously a powerful supernatural being. And apparently John's first impression was this is a divine being. So he falls down to worship. And the angel forbids him. don't worship me. You know, I'm a fellow servant of God the same as you are. Just worship God, just worship deity. Well, interestingly, the very fact that God, in light of this, would command angels to worship His Son is another way that God slayed My only begotten son is deity, absolute deity, because only deity is to be worshipped and angels are not to be worshipped. Interestingly, the word that's translated worship in God's commander in Hebrews one is the same word that's used other places in the New Testament. for worshiping only deity, worshiping only God. For example, look at John chapter four, the Gospel of John chapter four, verse of twenty-one through twenty-four, where we have Jesus carried on a conversation with the Samaritan woman with Jacob's will. John four, verse twenty-one, Jesus said unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour comes when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet in Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship, you know not what. We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour comes and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is the Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Notice how many times Jesus uses the word worship. It's the same word that Hebrews one uses for God's command to the angels to worship His Son. And where the angel said to John in Revelation twenty-two, worship God. Notice Jesus here is indicating that deity is to be worshiped by human beings. Look at Revelation chapter seven. Verse eleven. Revelation chapter seven, verse eleven, where John is given a vision of something that will transpire in heaven very close to the middle of the tribulation period, maybe just a little bit beyond the middle of the tribulation period in the future. Revelation chapter seven, verse eleven. And all the angels stood round about the throne and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne of their faces, and worshiped God. Same word again for worship. And so the fact that only deity is to be worshipped, and that God committed the angels to worship his son, is God's way of saying, my son is deity. He is as fully divine as I am fully divine. He is a complete divine nature, the same as I have a complete divine nature. As God's way of saying to the angels, you exalt my son. You exalt him. He is your sovereign Lord, your creator, your sustainer. He is your God. You bow before him and you worship him for who he is. The next significant thing about the relationship with Jesus Christ to angels, and to my way of thinking, this was an astounding one, really. Jesus Christ was made a little lower than the angels. Jesus Christ was made a little lower than the angels. Look, if you would, please, at the book of Hebrews chapter two. Hebrews chapter two, and we'll begin with verse six. Hebrews two and verse six. Where the writer says, but one in a certain place testifies, saying, and by the way, that certain place was Psalm eight. I'll begin around verse four. One in a certain place testified saying, what is man? that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man, that thou visitest him. Thou madeest him a little lower than the angels. Thou promised him with glory and honor, and did set him over the works of thy hands. Here the psalmist is saying, when God created mankind, he made man a little lower than the angels. They're lower on the scale of personal beings, well, in their present mortal state, than the angels are. But having set the stage there without concept that God created human beings lower than the angels, a little lower than the angels, he goes on to say in verse eight, thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. You know, Genesis chapter one, when God created Adam and Eve, He gave him dominion over everything here upon planet Earth. Thus put all things in subjection of his seed. For in that he put it all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. Having pointed out that God created human beings lower than the angels, now I stress Jesus was made a little lower than the angels, and he's referring here to the time of his incarnation. Since man was created by God little lower than the angels, and Jesus Christ became a man, a human being through incarnation, he allowed himself in the realm of his humanity to be made a little lower than the angels. That's astounding the implications of that. In light of what we've just seen about his relationships with the angels, He existed before them. He's the one who created them. He's the one who sovereign Lord over them. He is the one that they are to worship as God. Their creator, their sovereign Lord, allowed himself by becoming a human being. to become a little lower than the angels, than part of his own creatures in the realm of his humanity. And we're told here why he did that, the purpose of that. Verse nine again, he did it so that he could suffer in death. That by the grace of God, he should taste death for every man. Look at Hebrews, verse fourteen. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part in the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things that behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. What the writer of Hebrews was saying is this. the sovereign, divine creator of the angels, allowed himself, through incarnation of human flesh, to be made a little lower than the angels whom he created, a little lower than them in the realm of his humanity, for several reasons. Number one, so that he could die as a substitute. for the sins of human beings, along the same lines, so that he could make reconciliation for the sins of the people, so that he could destroy the devil who can inflict death on some people, and so that he could help people when they are tempted. He allowed himself to be made a lower lower than the angels for our benefit for our benefit that we could have our sins forgiven we who are enemies of God could be reconciled with God the enmity between us and God removed so that he could give a death blow to death on our behalf by his dying He delivered a death blow to death, which means that in the future, our dead bodies will be resurrected from the dead, now immortal, never to die again. And he did it so that he could be our high priest, knowing what it is we're retentive. He lived as a human being, and Satan was tempting him, as you know, to try to get him through the fact from God. Jesus allowed himself to be made Lord and the angels for our benefit, for our benefit. Let me deal with just one other area of his relationship here this evening. And then, Lord, willing, tomorrow morning, I want to deal with one other relationship, which to me is just absolutely incredible. And I never caught the full impact of this other relationship we're going to look at tomorrow morning until I was researching further to write my book on angels. It had to dig into a passage, but when I read it in the past was a great mystery to me, but when you begin to dig into the meaning of the terms that are given. opens up a whole new vista of relationship that Jesus Christ has had to angels, which is absolutely incredible, and that has a very significant impact upon you as me, as human beings. Lord, we will look at that tomorrow, but for right now, the final one we'll look at this evening is this, that after Jesus died, to provide reconciliation for our sins. And then was resurrected from the dead and ascended to heaven. He was exalted above the angels. He was exalted above the angels when he ascended to heaven. Look if you would please at Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians chapter one and we'll read verses twenty through twenty two. Ephesians chapter one beginning verse twenty Paul has just been talking about God the Father up in verse seventeen and continue to speak about God he says which he which God wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set in his own right hand in the heavenly places now notice far above all principality and power and might and dominion. There are those terms again in Colossians, verse sixteen, referring to angels. God, when he raised Jesus from the dead, took him to heaven, set him down in his own right hand in heavenly places, far above all the angels, far above all principality, power, might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also that which is to come, and has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church. He's saying, when Jesus was sent to heaven, God the Father exalted him above all the angels. Look if you would please at first Peter chapter three in verse twenty two. First Peter, chapter three, and verse twenty-two. Peter, at the end of verse twenty-one, just referred to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In verse twenty-two, he says of Jesus, who's gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. If we would please, at Hebrews one. Hebrews one, verses three and four. Referring to God's Son, who being the brightness of his, with God's glory, the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power. There's the idea again of his sustaining all of creation by the word of his power. When he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Look again, please, at Philippians chapter two. Philippians chapter two. The universe fly. Incredible. passage concerning Jesus that relates to things we're looking at this evening. Verse five, Philippians two, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God thought of not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant, literally of a slave. He took upon himself, the word form here means the outward appearance. from eternity past in heaven in the spirit realm he had the outward appearance of absolute deity the angels in the spirit realm I take it shakana glory even in the personal Lord Jesus that the angels could see he had that outward appearance of absolute deity there in heaven but when he came into the world where it says verse seven made himself with no reputation it literally says he emptied himself what did he empty himself though he temporarily emptied himself not of his deity but of the outward appearance of his deity there are only three human beings that saw the shakana glory of god in jesus christ while he was here for thirty-some years And those were Peter, James, and John that he took with him alone to the top, the Mount of Transfiguration. And a brilliant light began radiating through his flesh and clothing. That was the Chicago glory of God. It's the only time he allowed the outward appearance of his deity to be manifest with the human beings while he was here. Nobody else saw that. In thirty-some years he was here. He emptied himself that outward appearance of his deity, took upon him literally the outward appearance of a slave. It was made in the likeness of men that being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. How did he take upon himself the outward appearance of a slave to the form of death that he died, crucifixion? If you were to go back to the ancient literature of the Romans, the Greeks, or the Jews, you would find that they believed that crucifixion was so terrible that only certain classes of people deserved to die by crucifixion. And one of those classes was slaves. In fact, the ancient Roman records indicate that so many slaves were put to death by their masters through crucifixion. back in New Testament times, that in New Testament times, crucifixion was properly called the slave's death. And so if you died on a cross, the ancient Greeks, the ancient Romans, the ancient Jews said, he's a slave, no better than a slave. Jesus emptied himself temporarily of the outward appearance of his deity when he became a human being through incarnation, a lot of stuff he made a little lower than the angels. And instead of that outward appearance of his deity, he took himself the outward appearance of a slave by dying the form of death that the world properly knew as the slave's death. So when he died on that cross, the world said he's no better than a slave. And by the way, in the Roman Empire, slaves were classified as being subhuman. You could buy a slave in New Testament times for the equivalency of fifty cents in our money today. And that's why Roman families would sometimes own thousands of slaves. They were subhuman, according to Roman thinking. That's what they thought of Jesus, because he died on a cross by crucifixion. That was the world's opinion of him. But notice what God did. Verse nine. Wherefore God also has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. Now notice of things in heaven. That's where the angels dwell. And things in earth and things under the earth. and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. The world said he's no better than a subhuman slay. God's evaluation was radically different. He raised his son from the dead, raptured him to heaven, and exalted him by having sit down in his right hand and has exalted him over all the rest of creation, including the angels, so that the day is coming when every creature is going to have to bow before the Lord Jesus and exalt him and glorify him and confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Now, the question here is this. We saw earlier tonight that he is sovereign over the angels because he created them. As long as the angel of existence, Jesus Christ was sovereign over them and exalted over them as their creator and their sovereign Lord. Well, then what's this idea of his being exalted over them when he ascends to heaven? He's always been exalted over them in his deity. but not in his humanity, because we saw when he became a man in the realm of his humanity who was made a little lower than the angels. But now, as we resurrected, glorified God-man, Jesus Christ, in the realm of his humanity, he's also exalted over the angels. And they, in the future, even the evil ones, including Satan himself, will be forced to bow before him and exalt him and confess that he is Lord, even in the realm of his humanity over them. These are incredible truths that the Word of God is communicating to us about the relationship between Jesus Christ and angels. And we as believers should be exalting him now and confessing that he's Lord and worshiping him together with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. And someday even all the unsaved will be forced to bow before him and acknowledge who he is, even in the realm of his humanity, not just in the realm of his deity. Word willing tomorrow, as I indicated before, I want to take you to an incredible passage in the New Testament that spells out a different relationship that exists between Christ and particularly the evil angels. And I've saved it for tomorrow because it's going to take a while to develop that because of all that is said there about this. But it's an incredible, incredible truth. that really impacted me when I first began to recognize what that passage is saying. Father, we bow not only before you tonight and acknowledge and worship you as God, but we also bow before your eternal Son, Jesus Christ. will allow himself to be made a little lower than the angels for his incarnation. And now is a God-man. There will always be a God-man throughout eternity. And we worship Him. Because certainly if by command of you, the angels are to worship your Son when he came into the world, became incarnated, then certainly we as human beings who right now are lower than angels. should worship Him as well and exalt Him and acknowledge who He is and praise and thank Him for the humiliation He was allowed to go through voluntarily to convince Himself to go through. Being classified as no better than a slave by the ancient world that we might benefit. to that humiliation. Lord, thank you for your son Jesus Christ and for what he's done. Thank you for exalting him at your right hand in heaven when he ascended. And as he sits there, it's your right hand today. And Lord, thank you for loving us so much for sending him to become in outward appearance a slave before the world, that we might have your gift of eternal life through his death, burial, and resurrection. For all of this, we praise, thank, and worship you and the Lord Jesus in his blessed name. Amen.